The Guide is Actually a Body-Switching Esper [BL]
Chapter 157: Trapped (1)

Chapter 157: Trapped (1)

The massive metal gate was shut tight, looming over everyone gathered, not just with its height, but even more so with what it signified.

They were trapped, they were all trapped. With no way to escape out of the dungeon, at least not for the time being!

Putting that one ’tiny’ detail aside though, the situation by the Gate wasn’t bad. Most spectators flooded this way immediately after the monster attack started, and as a result, they had the most fighting power. All the T Rex lookalikes that arrived so far were already dealt with, and now only the pterodactyl monsters remained, circling high above the field.

Lane couldn’t help but scoff as he swept his eyes over the scene. The walls of the entrance hall were all wrecked and corroded, the only shelter completely obliterated. Among the people gathered, there were plenty of injuries, and undoubtedly at least a few deaths... But compared to what was going on back at the Monster Arena, it was all good and chill here. If only a few more people stayed behind at the Arena to help...

Absolutely pathetic. They were supposed to all be elites, and yet, they fled like a flock of sheep. Even if none of them were particularly powerful - most of the truly important people didn’t come to the dungeon that day, since it was only the preliminaries - they were still chosen to be parts of delegations. Shame on them.

Casting unease glances at the monsters occupying the sky above them, Nyla walked them over to the people in country K’s Awakened Agency’s uniforms standing by the gate, rubble crunching underneath her shoes as she climbed over the sad remains of the walls.

"Excuse me, may I ask where can I find the healers?" she asked, perfectly poised and polite even in the midst of a massive disaster.

Two or three members of the Awakened Agency turned their heads, giving her annoyed glances, ’Not another one’ written all over their faces, and would have almost ignored her...

But then they spotted the remains of the Allen Guild’s logo on her damaged uniform, lifted their eyes to look at her face again, and as the flash of recognition passed through them, they instantly changed their attitude.

The Allen Guild was known and respected around the world, much to Lane’s displeasure.

"I’m so sorry, Miss Allen," one of the higher-ranked Agency members stepped forward, bowing to Nyla. "I’m afraid we don’t know their current whereabouts either."

So they went missing. Lane wasn’t entirely surprised. He had a hunch that Molzen might have made them disappear... Eliminate them, buy them over, threaten, or simply kidnap, just so that they wouldn’t be able to help out.

"Then may I ask when will we be able to leave the dungeon?" Nyla tried next. "I have a critically injured person here..." she gestured at Lane, still hovering in the air with the help of her telekinesis.

"Ah, about this," the Agency member’s eyes dodged to the side, as he paused, clearly troubled. "I am afraid I cannot give you a precise answer... There was an error in the system, and we have trouble operating it currently. However, please rest assured. The issue will be resolved shortly. We are working on it as we speak."

Which meant they had no idea what was going on, or how to fix it. Even Nyla lifted her brows, looking at them with doubt - they were just standing around, muttering among themselves, and doing nothing productive. How was that ’working’ on anything?

She was too polite to say it out loud though, and Lane was still not in the mood to talk - even not to mock the incompetency of the government workers - so the Agency member was not called out on his bullshit.

"In the meantime, please get some rest," he continued, exhaling with relief that Nyla wasn’t raising any more questions. "While our healers are not around, there are plenty of Guides-"

"Hey!" A sudden shout came from their right, interrupting the man. A group of Espers marched their way, attracted by their conversation. Or rather, attracted by the fact that the Agency members were now willing to properly respond to someone.

"Ish been so lhong alhready!" the leader of the newcomer group yelled, speaking with a strong foreign accent. "When are you ghoing to lhet as out?"

The Agency member’s brows furrowed deeply. "As you can CLEARLY SEE, we haven’t been able to repair the gate controls yet, therefore, as much as we would like to, unfortunately we cannot let you out. My DEEPEST apologies," he snapped, his tone now much less polite than when he was talking to Nyla.

Such was the difference between people with power and some nobodies. Even governments treated them differently.

But the group wouldn’t be discouraged so easily. "Then lhet us destroy the ghate!"

The man from the agency gritted his jaw in response, loudly sucking a breath in.

Ah, so that’s why the gate was still untouched. Lane’s been wondering about that. While the monsters didn’t charge at it - why would they, if they had a lot of potential prey right in front of it? - it was weird that the people gathered didn’t try to do anything about it.

It was the Awakened Agency who stopped them. How, Lane wasn’t sure, but they must have said something that left people reluctant to strike. And since they weren’t under an onslaught from the monsters, at least for now, they lacked the sense of urgency that would make them discard any of their inhibitions...

The desire to get out still stuck with them though, so once they spotted an opportunity to negotiate - that is, someone the Agency couldn’t ignore - they instantly flocked to argue about it again.

Nyla rubbed her chin, thinking for a moment. "Yes, it might be a good idea. We should try attacking it with Mana weapons and abilities."

"Ugh," the man from the Agency groaned. "Miss Allen, are you going to take responsibility for it then?"

"Huh?"

"The gate is made from the highest-grade materials. The cost of its construction was enormous... Are you going to take responsibility and repay the Awakened Agency for the damages?"

Nyla blinked, taken aback. Repay the damages? To the Awakened Agency? Wasn’t it the Agency that would have to repay them all for this incident? And why were they worrying about the money now, when they were all stuck in an active S-rank dungeon, unprepared?

"...What about all the lives that are going to be lost because of the delay?" she eventually muttered, still in a state of deep confusion. "Are they not more important?"

"This, uh, well. Of course they are..." The man twisted his mouth, as if he himself wasn’t certain of what he was saying. "However, I unfortunately don’t have the authority to make such a decision."

"Then who does?"

"Uh, well, my Team Leader... However, he’s not here..."

"Don’t you have any internal communication system?"

The Agency member’s face turned even more ashen, as he unconsciously placed his hand on his radio, not knowing what to say.

Ah, so the system was down. No surprise here, since Molzen took care of the security cameras, it was only natural he wouldn’t neglect the communication system. It was really... a well-planned attack, as much as Lane hated to admit it.

"Anyway. If you’re willing to take the responsibility for your actions, then do as you please," the man from the Agency finally said. "I won’t stop you, but I won’t support your actions either."

Whatever happened to the Agency was one thing, but he didn’t want any blame placed on him. He wasn’t the person in charge, so he was just going to wash his hands of this mess!